Governor signs $213 million aid package for flooded Eastern Kentucky.
Flood-ravaged Eastern Kentucky will soon receive much-needed financial support after state lawmakers passed a $213 million relief package with nearly unanimous support at the end of a three-day special session Friday.
Gov. Andy Beshear signed the bill Friday afternoon.
But some Mountain Caucus legislators begged their colleagues: please don’t let this be the end of your support for the region.
“This can be the disaster that ended us,” an impassioned Rep. Angie Hatton, D-Whitesburg, said, “or it can be a catalyst for real change to make Eastern Kentucky an easier place to live.”
Primary sponsors on mirrored versions of the bill in the House and Senate were Rep. John Blanton, R-Salyersville, and Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester. Both represent some of the areas hardest hit by the floods.
The aid package, paid for by $200 million from the state’s Budget Reserve Trust Fund, also known as the rainy day fund, and nearly $13 million from the State Fiscal Recovery Fund of the American Rescue Plan Act, includes:
- $115 million to the Division of Emergency Management to be allocated to counties, cities, school districts and other entities in the federally designated disaster area.
- $45 million to the Transportation Cabinet’s highways budget to repair damaged and destroyed roads and bridges.
- $40 million to the Department of Education for school financial assistance. Eligible school expenses include, but aren’t limited to, school repairs and rebuilding and additional transportation costs due to student displacement.
Beshear and lawmakers have said the bill is meant to provide immediate relief until the legislature can take further action during the 2023 General Assembly.
Prior to the call of the session, the governor’s office and legislative leaders worked to come to an agreement on the package. With only one ‘no’ vote on the final product, House Speaker David Osborne called it a rare show of unity over a “nonpartisan” issue like flood relief.
“I think it was… the most seamless process that I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of since I’ve been in the legislature. Rarely are the lights on when we’re all pulling in the right direction,” Obsorne said. “Usually the lights come on when we’re divided over something.”
A late amendment to the package filed by Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, would have allocated an extra $50 million specifically to address the housing crisis that resulted from the floods. That effort got sunk when both Appropriations & Revenue committees introduced amendments tweaking one section of the bill’s language, technically making the amendment out of order.
Smith said that he was “disappointed” that his amendment, which would have increased the state allocation from the Budget Reserve Trust Fund from $200 million to $250 million, did not make the final cut of the bill.
Senate Appropriations & Revenue Committee Chair Chris McDaniel, R-Ryland Heights, and Stivers both said that while housing is an issue they’re open to addressing later, they’re concerned the amendment would’ve threatened the ability to maximize money coming from the federal government.
Blanton added that, though the intentions behind the amendment were good, the focus of the package is on immediate needs, including addressing the housing issue.
“Right now we’re trying to meet immediate needs. And that is ‘get people out of tents, get them out of shelters, get a roof over their head before cold weather gets here.’ This bill does include funding for those type things. When we start talking about permanent structures, you’re talking about buildings and those are going to take months to get built. So we’re coming back in January, and we’re prepared to continue that discussion with his amendment.”
Rep. Ashley Tackett Laferty, D-Martin, said in Floyd County alone, the Fiscal Court spent $1.5 million to make emergency repairs to roads, culverts and other infrastructure since the flooding; the annual road fund is typically about $2 million.
“But as wonderful as this bill is, this is only the foundation critical to rebuilding our community,” she said. “I’m begging you not to go home and feel like, ‘We have done our part for Eastern Kentucky.’ This is immediate and necessary attention, but we are in need – dire need – of a long-term recovery plan.”
After the bill’s 97-0 passage in the house, Blanton called on Congress and the federal government to “fix FEMA.”
“It is a disaster,” he said. “It is an embarrassment, the things that we’ve seen and heard about going on with them in this response. It can be fixed, but somebody’s gotta make the decision to do it and we can’t do it here. … Get to the root of this problem. You’re supposed to be there to help people.
“They’re bringing hope, red tape and leaving people despaired, disheartened, when they come.”
Hatton, too, made a plea for FEMA to do better.
“These people have worked so hard – just like all of your constituents have worked so hard – for everything they’ve done in their lives, especially the coal miners,” Hatton said. “They have broken their backs and ruined their lungs ... only to watch everything that they’ve worked for float down the creek or piled up in a big muddy pile in their yard.”
In turn, some have been met with FEMA offers for $195 or $2,200 or an outright denial, she said.
“They’re insulted, and they’re hurting, and it makes it worse,” she said. “And even the ones that get the full amount, $37,000, will not rebuild maybe more than your garage and driveway.”
Hatton said she’s not asking for the government to feed and clothe them for the rest of their lives; she believes people who are able should work to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
“But their bootstraps just washed down the creek,” she said.
Sen. John Schickel, R-Union, was the lone no vote on the package among the entire General Assembly. He said that he thought the bill was “good overall,” but he cast his vote in protest because he thinks special sessions where a large amount of funds are spent should be held over a longer time period than the three days it took to pass the flood relief package.
The Legislature, barring the need for another special session, is adjourned until Jan. 3.
This story was originally published August 26, 2022 at 12:24 PM.
